The Ultimate Young Gun Travel Essentials

Life ain’t too bad for a Young Gun. You surf pretty much all day long. And if you’re not surfing, you’re probably eating. And if you’re not eating, you’re probably mucking around and if you’re not mucking around, you’re probably sleeping so that you can wake up and do all of those three things over again the next day.

A simple life, for sure. But still, it requires a few essentials to run smoothly.

At the start of 2017, two of our Young Guns set out on a 3-month long journey of chasing comps and Radical Times. We caught up with Kehu Butler and Rio Waida in Torquay, Australia, where they filled us in on what they simply refuse to leave home without.

What? You weren’t going to skimp on the accessories, were you? Bring a portable charger. And a bluetooth speaker. And a waterproof case. And some headphones.

Drink water! This is not only a plug for our friends over at Drink Water, but also a plea for you to stay hydrated. Much like Saharan camels, our boys know the importance of a steady supply of H2O, and they carry these suckers with them all day long.

You don’t have to use it. You don’t even have to know how to use it. But if you travel with them, people will think that you train really hard and in turn won’t judge you when you order three desserts...at lunch. Rio said he was gonna swim, but it was “too cold.”

A key necessity for livin’. If you don’t pack a pair of boardshorts with you everywhere you go, then you’re doing it so very wrong. Hell, these kids came to the coldest part of Australia and they all brought boardies with them. Simple truth: you never know when you’re going to need a pair.

Unless you’re chronically obese. Or a polar bear. Or a giant chunk of neoprene that gained consciousness in a miraculous event that defied both science and theology, then developed an appetite for the finer things in life, like traveling, surfing and Stevie Winwood. Wait, Stevie Winwood? Huh?

“The only thing worse than being the person who always bums wax off of their friends is being the person who has to walk into a foreign surf shop and purchase a bar of wax at full price.” -Aristotle

Ever seen a big blank concrete wall and thought wow, that looks bland? So have we. And that’s why stickers exist - to make the world a better place.

If you had eight hands, you could carry a surfboard, a wetsuit, a towel, some wax, a surf mag, a slingshot, a portable speaker and a granola (fine, candy) bar all at once. You probably don’t have eight hands. Which means you definitely need a backpack.

It will hold your cash, your coins, your cards and a small but very noticeable amount of sand that spills out onto the counter or the table any time you go to pay for something. And it’ll look good doing it. These are a grom classic.